Amr Merlin and the Red Balloon
by restautas25
Summary: The next generation of Hogwarts has its youngest ever student: a ten-year-old. She is the most talented student they've ever seen. She makes magical breakthroughs before she's eaten breakfast. But surprisingly, it's not Rose Weasley. How did this American girl get in? Why is she so young? And why is she so mysterious? First in a series of seven, hopefully.
1. Chapter 1: The Sorting

**A/N: Here it is, the first chapter of **_**Amr Merlin and the Red Balloon. **_**Enjoy!**

~CHAPTER 1~

The Sorting

"Smith, Lauren!"

Ren watched the entire hall disappear before her eyes as the large Sorting Hat dropped onto her head. The hat was scary. As other kids had gone up and assumed their place on the three-legged stool, she had seen their faces go from fear to surprise as it appeared to be communicating with them. She expected the hat to start shouting at her in her head, or worse, say nothing and just shout out a house.

But, as was custom for Ren Smith, nothing went according to what she expected. The hat didn't say anything when it was placed on her head. It just felt like a normal hat. Well, it was as normal as a singing hat belonging to a magical school that sorted new students into groups could be. The hat didn't do anything magical in her brain, as far as she could tell. Ren fidgeted. The entire school was looking at her intently, waiting for the hat to announce a decision. They expected her to be conversing with the hat right now, discussing which house would be best for her to spend seven long years in. But nothing was happening! She looked over at Professor Longbottom, the deputy headmaster, and tried to convey the panic she was feeling.

He merely smiled and winked at her.

It didn't console Ren at all.

The hat kept its silence as she debated what to do. Some kids, like the Malfoy and Potter boys, had taken a lot longer than the others to be sorted. Malfoy had taken a good five minutes, and Potter a few minutes more than that, before they had both been placed in Ravenclaw. She searched the third table from the left and found them, sitting as far away from each other as possible. They looked happy with their houses, though. She thought they were famous, because of all the whispers that had popped up when their names had been called. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to be in that house after all. Maybe she should just take the hat off her head and shout Ravenclaw herself…

_They would laugh if you did that._

Her eyes bulged. So THAT was what everyone was so surprised at.

_Yes, yes. I'm surprising. I get rather tired of it, year after year. I do apologize for my late entrance to this conversation, Miss, but your mind was full of complexities that I had to make my way out of it before I could speak. You are a remarkable child._

But I'm only ten years old, thought Ren; all these other kids are better than me.

_Do not think that way!_ The voice roared in her head. _You have a great destiny before you, I can see. Such a destiny would qualify you for Slytherin, like your father…but I do not sense this is the right fit for you._

_Hold on a second. My father? My father's a muggle. He didn't go to any magical school, let alone a British one. How can you know about him?_

_It is not mine to say how I know your father, only that I have only seen a mind like yours once before. But back to Sorting. You know, the student is the one to draw me back to this topic, but I'm doing it this time. You are most unusual. Unusual indeed. I've never had to put up with that amount of thoughts before. And yet I do not see that you are skilled in Legillimency. I only assume you got that from your father._

_Um Mr. Hat? Maybe it would be best if I got Sorted. _Some of the older students were looking at her with contempt for taking so long.

_Ah, yes, of course. Slytherin, while it may have worked for your father, will not suit you. You're certainly ambitious, and you have a great destiny, but it is not the house for you. Too rigorous in the wrong ways. But Ravenclaw, that is plausible. You could succeed there. And you already have some friends there._

_What friends_, Ren thought. _I didn't talk to anyone on the train, and I kept to myself in line. I'm a loner, just like I was at my elementary school_.

_Hmm…Hufflepuff would be good for that…you are very dedicated, willing to put in every effort. You could go into Gryffindor with that quality as well…so where to put you, where to put you…_

By this time, most of the students were talking to each other. A few groaned loudly and clutched their stomachs, feigning extreme hunger.

_You are brave, you are hardworking, you are smart…Hermione Granger had these qualities and did remarkable in Gryffindor, but you are not Miss Granger. You are smart, Amr. And quick to understand, but you need a close environment, especially in your future. You have the ability to be placed in any house, really. It depends on you._

_Wait a second. My name isn't Amr! I'm Ren. Everyone knows it; Professor Longbottom read it off a sheet of paper!_

_Of course. My mistake. Very quick to catch on, you are. That would make a good talent for Ravenclaw._

_Are you just grabbing different responses I make and giving them weight in your decision? This system is messed up._

…_And that is exactly what I am looking for in an attentive, precocious student of… _"RAVENCLAW!"

Professor Longbottom started in the hat's sudden decision. As he stood up to come take the hat off Ren's head, it spoke its last few words to her.

_Take care, Amr. We will meet again._


	2. Chapter 2: Sparks

Chapter II:

Sparks

By the time the third class rolled around on her first day, Ren was ready for a change. Charms and Transfiguration had gone horribly because she had managed to lose ten whole points from Ravenclaw for absolutely no reason at all. Professor Dibbet, the Transfiguration teacher, had even given her a detention! She sulked out of the classroom and headed down the hallway packed with different students, all the while for her new friend. It wasn't hard to find Rose; all she had to do was look for the flaming red hair. A darker, black-haired head (belonging to arguably the most popular first year Albus Potter) always accompanied this bright hair color. Ren weaved and bobbed her way through the crowd to catch up with the pair. That was a skill she had learned at her old school.

"—and I wanted to, but Professor Dibbet didn't let me transfigure anything more advanced. He wouldn't even let me try to revert the needle back into a matchstick!" Rose was babbling on about some injustice that had just happened in Transfiguration.

"I know, Rose, I was there," Albus replied. She'd done this rant after the first class today as well.

"Oh, hi Ren! How was your meeting?" She took notice of Ren, falling in step with the pair of cousins. Albus kept walking as if he didn't notice she was there.

"Professor Dibbet doesn't like me," she mumbled, "He gave me a detention."

"WHAT?!" Rose stopped in shock. Ren and Albus kept walking for a few feet until they realized she was behind them. They met eyes for only a moment, then Albus quickly ran back to rescue Rose from the oncoming crowd and the trio kept moving towards their next class. Ren refused to speak more on the subject, much to Rose's bantering. She eventually dropped the subject with a "we'll talk about this later."

The Ravenclaws crowded into the classroom. The desks were arranged around the walls, leaving the majority of floor space empty in the center of the room. The students milled around. The teacher, Professor Xavier, wasn't in the classroom yet, so they just stood around talking. Rose and Albus continued their debate of the unfairness of Transfiguration teachers when a tall figure materialized on the top step at the front of the room.

"Drop your bags at a desk and pull out your wand," the man boomed.

There was a flurry of movement to accommodate his directions. Once everyone was standing in the middle again, this time with their wands at their sides, the man spoke again.

"I am going to dispense with the pleasantries you hear in every other class," he said as he moved slowly down the steps, "because you are Ravenclaws and have no doubt read your schedules thoroughly, interrogating older students about the instructors you will have. Some of you," he looked at Albus, then another student, "will have 'inside information,'" he made air quotes to his words, "from your siblings."

The class was silent. He talked so captivatingly, the entire room was mesmerized. He was now on the floor with them, moving slowly towards the center.

"I am a charismatic teacher with unorthodox ways of teaching you how to defend yourselves. You will adapt to these ways in class or I will tutor you privately during study periods. It is your choice. With that said, I am not a distant teacher. You are always welcome to come speak with me about any problem you might have, regardless of the fact that I am not your head of house. I welcome you." He smiled at the group around him. "Now, partner up!"

They hurried to find partners. Ren dreaded these kinds of moments. At her old school, she had always been the smallest, the least noticed. Nobody ever realized she needed a partner. Rose had obviously paired up with Albus; and the other girls from her dormitory had found partners as well. Typical of what it had been like in PE back home, the teams had formed long before she could orient herself to the task at hand.

Ren stood alone in the midst of paired students. She swallowed hard to keep the lump in her throat down. Unbidden tears sprang to her eyes. She didn't want this new place to be like middle school.

A soft hand fell on her shoulder. She turned around instantly, a smile already on her face, hope in her heart. It faded a little when she saw who it was. Professor Xavier was standing above her with a kind smile on his face.

"Odd number, eh?" She nodded. "Don't worry. You get the best partner!" He mock whispered to her, loud enough so the nearest pair happened to look jealously at her.

"_Lucky_," the girl mouthed.

"Okay everyone, let's get started! Stand a few feet away from your partner and get into a defensive stance. Then, I want you to try and pull any magic you have and make sparks appear at the end of your wand. I am not—" he held up a finger to the four hands raised, including Rose's, "—going to tell you what to do because I want you to figure it out on your own. This will be difficult, so try your best. You should know, though, that I don't expect to see anything at first. Begin!"

Ren watched as Professor Xavier walked around the room, correcting others' stances and adjusting grips on their wands. She waited patiently for him to come back to her to watch. Once he had made a round, he clapped his hands in expectation.

"Okay, you can start now. Try to do it." He smiled encouragingly.

Ren took a stance and closed her eyes. She tried to focus on a bit of energy that she could draw on, but she couldn't pinpoint any one place. It was all moving too fast. She felt like a beehive with a plugged hole. She decided to just take a little bit of whatever she could grab and push it out her wand. She opened them, looking at Professor Xavier for permission to continue. He nodded. She pushed the energy she had selected toward her right hand, and she watched with amazement as very, very bright sparks easily appeared on her fingertips. They trailed off, skittering and rotating down her wand. She watched as they amassed on the tip of her wand, growing brighter and hotter. She pushed again to try and get them off the tip. All it did was make more sparks leave her fingers. The wand was becoming too hot to hold. It buzzed with energy. The light blinded her.

She dropped it, cradling her hand in pain.

Then she realized what she had dropped.

The mass of light and energy that had been on the tip of Ren's wand quickly departed once the tip made contact with the floor. The floor responded to this new addition by promptly setting itself on fire right where the light had been.

No one noticed, at first. Ren simply stared at it, and Professor Xavier did too. Then the fire began to spread, and he started waving his wand and muttering incantations to try and put it out. It didn't really help. Others started to notice the fire now and were moving out of the classroom. By now, half of the class was engulfed in hot, bright flames. Professor Xavier shouted and a great deal of water flowed from his wand onto the flames. They subsided until a few more incantation extinguished them altogether.

Everyone was shocked and still. The classroom was filled with the smell of burning wood and the ashen light coming from the windows. Professor Xavier immediately turned to the class and demanded that they get back to work. Once they had reluctantly resumed, he walked around the class again, commenting on their progress.

Ren was afraid to think that this class might go the same as the others. Would he take away points? Give her detention for nearly burning up the classroom? Was this something she could be expelled for?

He returned to her, kneeled, and looked her straight in the eye. "What's your name, little one?"

_Little one. Ha. _"I-I'm Ren."

"Ren, that was…quite extraordinary. I've never had a student produce that many sparks, let alone how many you did. But…"

"But what? Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was doing, it just happened, I didn't mean to start a fire…" she choked up.

He chuckled, and her fears subsided. "Not exactly. I'm always expecting an explosion in this class, though not quite that controlled."

"Am I in trouble?"

He shook his head. "No. Why would I put you in trouble when you did exactly as I instructed?"

"I didn't do exactly as you said. You said just make sparks, not a fire!"

"You're wrong there. I didn't say _just_ make sparks, I _just_ said make sparks. The difference is the latter is open to interpretation. Let's make a deal, all right?" She nodded. "You want to know about what happened, and so do I." She nodded again. "If you watch the others for the rest of class without causing another disturbance, I'll meet with you during your first study period and discuss today's class. Sound good?"

"Yeah," she said meekly. She went to the desk and watched her classmates attempt to produce the sparks. Arietty Van Gorder's face was blue because she was holding her breath to try to make sparks. Simone Lester was almost in tears, and Bianca Fenton wasn't even trying. The only one who seemed to not be remotely freaking out was Rose; and even she wasn't producing any sparks.

The boys weren't doing much better. Albus had tried a few times and gave up; Lazarus Orr looked like he was constipated, much to the amusement of a stout boy named Clive Pierce and towering Logan Dedrick. Klaus Newton worked with Scorpius Malfoy. Both apparently tried their best but it wasn't producing anything.

The bell rang and the eleven Ravenclaws filed out of the classroom, lamenting and gossiping about the class. Rose immediately started speculating on the source of the fire.

"It had to be a test; teachers always do those sorts of things to trick you. I bet it wasn't even a student!"

"How'd you figure that, Rose?" Logan came and shoved himself between Rose and Ren, leaving her jogging to keep up with his long legs.

"How inconsiderate," she mumbled. She stumbled and fell behind; Logan never looked back once. Only the back of a black-haired head seemed to move slightly.

But that could have been Ren's imagination.


End file.
